Capitalization and punctuation Warm-up

Capitalization and punctuation



Warm-up. Reflect on the question.

What is the importance of capitalization and punctuation in writing?

Do you follow the rules of capitalization and punctuation?

Capitalization and punctuation in phone messaging is different than in official writing.

Activity 1. Read the news and try to identify reflected problem in the article.

‘An expensive comma’

Last few decades ago not only trading companies but many taxpayers were dissatisfied with American tariff law. Although the ministry of economic tried to develop the perfect tariff law there was still some misunderstandings because of which many companies and taxpayers faced with some difficulties in conducting their business.

A dairy company in the US city of Portland, Maine settled a court case for $5m earlier this year because of a missing comma.

Three lorry drivers for Oakhurst Dairy claimed that they were owed years of unpaid overtime wages, all because of the way commas were used in legislation governing overtime payments.

The state’s laws declared that overtime wasn’t due for workers involved in “the canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of: 1) agricultural produce; 2) meat and fish products; and 3) perishable foods”.

The drivers managed to successfully argue that because there was no comma after “shipment” and before “or distribution”, they were owed overtime pay. If a comma had been there, the law would have explicitly ruled out those who distribute perishable foods.

Members of the US Congress debated the issue and the problem was fixed – but not before the New York Times bemoaned the use of “An Expensive Comma”. It wouldn’t be the last such error.

Activity 2. Rank your findings on reflected problems. Share and discuss your rankings with your partner.

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Activity 3. Give an example that caused many problems because of misusing of capitalization and punctuation.

Activity 4. Spot the mistake. Match the sentences below with the type of mistakes which were made.

1. 2.



Activity 4. Write three versions for problem solution presented in the article under the given statement

For avoiding conflicts and misunderstandings between trading companies, taxpayers and citizens as a result of misusing of capitalization and punctuation should be done the next:

1.

2.

3.

Activity 5. Do research on spotting the mistakes of capitalization and punctuation on different documents, announcement in public places and advertisements.

Basic rules of capitalization and punctuation are given below.

Proper nouns (e.g. James, India, Egypt, Ganga and Everest) always begin with capital letters.

A capital letter is used at the beginning of a sentence.

A statement and an imperative sentence end with a full stop, where as an interrogative sentence ends with a question mark and an exclamatory sentence ends with an exclamation mark.

Rewrite the following sentences using appropriate punctuation marks and capital letters wherever necessary.

1. river yamuna flows through agra

2. eiffel tower is the most famous monument in france

3. my brother is a singer

4. where have you been all this while

5. you look hot are you ill

6. come here at once

7. rohan is a smart boy

8. sania couldnt believe her eyes when she saw the bicycle

9. india is the seventh largest country in the world

10. mumbai is the capital of maharashtra

11. my best friend and his family are moving to chennai

12. you dont look happy to see me do you

13. you shouldnt have done this to john

14. there is a large rain forest in south america

Answers

1. River Yamuna flows through Agra.

2. Eiffel Tower is the most famous monument in France.

3. My brother is a singer.

4. Where have you been all this while?

5. You look hot. Are you ill?

6. Come here at once.

7. Rohan is a smart boy.

8. Sania couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw the bicycle.

9. India is the seventh largest country in the world.

10. Mumbai is the capital of Maharashtra.

11. My best friend and his family are moving to Chennai.

12. You don’t look happy to see me, do you?

13. You shouldn’t have done this to John.

14. There is a large rain forest in South America

Capitalization and Punctuation Worksheets

Practising punctuation and capitalization? These worksheets are just what you need for your lessons! Add the correct punctuation and capital letters to the sentences in the worksheets - and you will be word perfect in no time!

Correct punctuation helps make writing easier to understand. It tells us when to take a breath, or highlights the importance of someone or something.

Children usually begin writing without using any punctuation at all! As they get older, it helps to practice what to use, and when to use it

Capitalization and Punctuation Worksheets

Practising punctuation and capitalization? These worksheets are just what you need for your lessons! Add the correct punctuation and capital letters to the sentences in the worksheets - and you will be word perfect in no time!

Correct punctuation helps make writing easier to understand. It tells us when to take a breath, or highlights the importance of someone or something.

Children usually begin writing without using any punctuation at all! As they get older, it helps to practice what to use, and when to use it

Put a circle around the letters that should be capitals:

HOW NAPOLEON CROSSED THE ALPS

about a hundred years ago there lived a great general whose name was napoleon bonaparte. he was the leader of the french army and france was at war with nearly all the countries around. he wanted very much to take his soldiers into italy but between france and italy there are high mountains called the alps, the tops of which are covered with snow.

"is it possible to cross the alps?" said napoleon.

the men who had been sent to look at the passes over the mountains shook their heads. then one of them said, "it may be possible, but.."

"let me hear no more," said napoleon. "forward to italy!"

people laughed at the thought of an army of sixty thousand men crossing the alps where there was no road. but napoleon waited only to see that everything was in good order, and then he gave the order to march.

the long line of soldiers and horses and cannon stretched for twenty miles. when they came to a steep place where there seemed to be no way to go farther, the trumpets sounded "charge!" then every man did his best, and the whole army moved right onward.

soon they were safe over the alps. in four days they were marching on the plains of italy.

"the man who has made up his mind to win," said napoleon, "will never say 'impossible.'"

HOW NAPOLEON CROSSED THE ALPS.

About a hundred years ago there lived a great general whose name was Napoleon Bonaparte. He was the leader of the French army and France was at war with nearly all the countries around. He wanted very much to take his soldiers into Italy but between France and Italy there are high mountains called the Alps, the tops of which are covered with snow.

"Is it possible to cross the Alps?" said Napoleon.

The men who had been sent to look at the passes over the mountains shook their heads. Then one of them said, "It may be possible, but"—

"Let me hear no more," said Napoleon. "Forward to Italy!"

People laughed at the thought of an army of sixty thousand men crossing the Alps where there was no road. But Napoleon waited only to see that everything was in good order, and then he gave the order to march.

The long line of soldiers and horses and cannon stretched for twenty miles. When they came to a steep place where there seemed to be no way to go farther, the trumpets sounded "Charge!" Then every man did his best, and the whole army moved right onward.

Soon they were safe over the Alps. In four days they were marching on the plains of Italy.

"The man who has made up his mind to win," said Napoleon, "will never say 'impossible.'"

Capital Letters  - A Laconic Answer

Put a circle around the letters that should be capitals:

many miles beyond rome there was a famous country which we call greece. the people of greece were not united like the romans but instead there were several states, each of which had its own rulers.

some of the people in the southern part of the country were called spartans, and they were noted for their simple habits and their bravery. the name of their land was laconia, and so they were sometimes called lacons.

one of the strange rules which the spartans had, was that they should speak briefly, and never use more words than were needed. and so a short answer is often spoken of as being laconic; that is, as being such an answer as a lacon would be likely to give.

there was in the northern part of greece a land called macedon; and this land was at one time ruled over by a war-like king named philip.

philip of macedon wanted to become the master of all greece. so he raised a great army, and made war upon the other states, until nearly all of them were forced to call him their king. then he sent a letter to the spartans in laconia, and said, "if i go down into your country, i will level your great city to the ground."

in a few days, an answer was brought back to him. when he opened the letter, he found only one word written there.

that word was "if."

it was as much as to say, "we are not afraid of you so long as the little word 'if' stands in your way."

A LACONIC ANSWER.

Many miles beyond Rome there was a famous country which we call Greece. The people of Greece were not united like the Romans but instead there were several states, each of which had its own rulers.

Some of the people in the southern part of the country were called Spartans, and they were noted for their simple habits and their bravery. The name of their land was Laconia, and so they were sometimes called Lacons.

One of the strange rules which the Spartans had, was that they should speak briefly, and never use more words than were needed. And so a short answer is often spoken of as being laconic; that is, as being such an answer as a Lacon would be likely to give.

There was in the northern part of Greece a land called Macedon, and this land was at one time ruled over by a war-like king named Philip.

Philip of Macedon wanted to become the master of all Greece. So he raised a great army, and made war upon the other states, until nearly all of them were forced to call him their king. Then he sent a letter to the Spartans in Laconia, and said, "If I go down into your country, I will level your great city to the ground."

In a few days, an answer was brought back to him. When he opened the letter, he found only one word written there.

That word was "If."

It was as much as to say, "We are not afraid of you so long as the little word 'if' stands in your way."

‘An expensive comma’

In 1872, an American tariff law including an unwanted comma cost taxpayers nearly $2m (the equivalent of $40m today). The United States Tariff Act, as originally drafted in 1870, allowed “fruit plants, tropical and semi-tropical for the purpose of propagation or cultivation” to be exempt from import tariffs.

For an unknown reason, when revised two years later, a stray comma sneaked in between “fruit” and “plants”. Suddenly all tropical and semi-tropical fruits could be imported without any charge.

Members of the US Congress debated the issue and the problem was fixed – but not before the New York Times bemoaned the use of “An Expensive Comma”. It wouldn’t be the last such error.

"Дорогая запятая"
В 1872 году американский тарифный закон, включающий нежелательные запятые, обошелся налогоплательщикам почти в 2 миллиона долларов (сегодня эквивалент 40 миллионов долларов). Закон о тарифах Соединенных Штатов, первоначально разработанный в 1870 году, позволил освобождать «импортные пошлины от« фруктовых растений тропических и полутропических для размножения или выращивания ».
По неизвестной причине, когда его пересмотрели два года спустя, между «фруктами» и «растениями» пробивалась случайная запятая. Внезапно все тропические и полутропические фрукты могут быть импортированы без какой-либо оплаты.

Члены Конгресса США обсудили проблему, и проблема была решена - но не раньше, чем New York Times оплакивала использование «Дорогой запятой». Это не будет последней такой ошибкой

A dairy company in the US city of Portland, Maine settled a court case for $5m earlier this year because of a missing comma.

Three lorry drivers for Oakhurst Dairy claimed that they were owed years of unpaid overtime wages, all because of the way commas were used in legislation governing overtime payments.

The state’s laws declared that overtime wasn’t due for workers involved in “the canning, processing, preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of: 1) agricultural produce; 2) meat and fish products; and 3) perishable foods”.

The drivers managed to successfully argue that because there was no comma after “shipment” and before “or distribution”, they were owed overtime pay. If a comma had been there, the law would have explicitly ruled out those who distribute perishable foods.

Молочная компания в американском городе Портленд, штат Мэн, в этом году урегулировала судебное дело на 5 млн долларов из-за пропущенной запятой.
Три водителя грузовика для компании Oakhurst Dairy заявили, что им причитались годы невыплаченной сверхурочной заработной платы, и все это из-за того, что в законодательстве, регулирующем оплату сверхурочных, использовались запятые.
Законы штата гласили, что сверхурочные не должны выплачиваться работникам, занимающимся «консервированием, переработкой, хранением, заморозкой, сушкой, маркетингом, хранением, упаковкой для отгрузки или распределением: 1) сельскохозяйственной продукции; 2) мясные и рыбные продукты; и 3) скоропортящиеся продукты ».
Водителям удалось успешно утверждать, что из-за того, что после «отгрузки» и до «или раздачи» не было запятой, они должны были платить сверхурочно. Если бы там была запятая, закон явно исключил бы тех, кто раздает скоропортящиеся продукты

ommas also must be used to separate words in a simple series of three or more items. Again, failing to do this can result in a complete misinterpretation of the writer’s intent. If someone said “I like cooking, my family, and my pets” in the bio section of dating site, I’d probably be down to meet them. However, if their profile claimed, “I like cooking my family and my pets,” it would likely warrant a 9-1-1 call.

If you’re struggling to determine when to include a comma in your ad, a good (and completely unscientific) rule of thumb is to read the sentence out loud. If you hesitate or pause at any point while reading it, you probably need to insert a comma at that juncture. Here’s a more detailed primer on proper comma usage.